Humidifier



Patented Sept. 15, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to humidifiers, an object of the invention being to provide a humidifier which is closely associated with a steam radiator and receives the water condensing in the radiator and causes the same to be vaporized or evaporated by the action of live steam passing through a pipe to the radiator.

It is a well known fact that water such as supplied to cities contain various chemicals and. impurities which tend to clog and fill a humidifier, and these chemicals and impurities vary in different parts of the world. In utilizing the water in the radiator or condensate, as it is commonly known, I overcome the difiiculties which ensue from the use of ordinary city water as it is of course Well known that this condensate is the result of distillation, and chemicals and impurities contained in the water of the boiler are eliminated by the distillation process of the steam passing to the radiator and condensing therein. This water which condenses in the radiator is frequently discolored simply from rust within the radiator and sometimes has an odor due to boiler compounds, or other causes, and I have discovered that the employment of an ordinary mechanical filter interposed in the path of the outlet of this water will remove any matter which might be offensive.

Furthermore, it is an object of my invention to provide the humidifier under the radiator so that the air and vapor rising from the humidifier will come into contact with the hot radiator.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a humidifier which will be entirely automatic in its operation and which embodies many features of novelty and advantage, all of which will be hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing- Fig. l is a view in side elevation partly broken away and in section illustrating details of construction;

. Fig. 2 is a view mainly in horizontal section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1 with portions broken away and in section; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view in transverse section on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

A represents a steam radiator which may, of course, be of any form desired, but is preferably provided with feet I supporting the radiator at a sufficient elevation to accommodate my improved humidifier below the same. The radiator A has a steam inlet pipe 2 communicating with one end of the radiator and at the other end tending flared outlets 5. These pipes 4 are connected at suitable points by short tubes 6 so that water within the pipes can maintain a common level. Steam pipes I extend longitudinally through the pipe 4 and communicate at their 10 ends with headers 8. One of these headers 8 communicates with the steam radiator inlet pipe 2 and the other with a steam supply pipe 9. In this steam supply pipe 9 a valve I is provided to control the flow of steam to the humidifier and the radiator.

A drain pipe l0 communicates with the lower portion of the radiator and directs the water or condensate to a filter II, a suitable valve [2 being preferably provided in the pipe It] to control the fiow of water. The filter II in the form illustrated comprises a pipe which may contain charcoal and sand l2 or other suitable material to filter the water. Of course, it is to be understood that the filter may take any desired form and the filtering material may be varied to suit conditions, but in any event it is to be understood that a filter will be provided between the water outlet of the radiator and the water inlet of the humidifier.

The pipe II is shown as having a T-coupling l3 at its end coupled to an inlet nipple M on top of a tank l5 and a removable plug I6 is provided in the end of the pipe H which can be readily removed to facilitate the removal and replacement of the filtering material. The tank I5 is provided at its lower portion with an outlet pipe I! communicating with an inlet nipple l8 on one of the tubes 4 so that water flowing into the tank !5 will flow into the tubes 4. A valve l9 controls the inlet of water from tank l5 and this valve [9 is operatively connected to a lever having a float 2| thereon which operates to maintain the same level of water in the tank and humidifier. In order that the condensate may return to the system in the event that its communication with the humidifier is cut off, I preferably provide a water outlet pipe 22 connecting one end of the radiator with the steam supply pipe 9.

The operation is as follows: Water from the radiator passes through pipe Ill and filter ll into tank l5 and flows from tank l5 into the tubes 4 where it comes in contact with the heated pipes I through which the live steam passes to the radiator. These hot pipes 1 cause the water to be evaporated or vaporized and mixed with the air flowing upward past the radiator. Thus the air saturated with Water is heated in its upward passage by direct contact with the radiator itself.

It will thus be noted that with my improved apparatus I utilize only water which has been condensed in the radiator as a supply, and as this water has passed through the distillation process of having been condensed from steam it is free from foreign chemicals and products which would clog the humidifier, and furthermore by the arrangement set forth the rapidity of vaporization or, in other words, the amount of water vaporized is in accordance with the temperatures so that when the steam is flowing to the radiator the water will be vaporized much more rapidly than will be true when the steam is cut off or partially cut off, and most efiicient results are thereby had.

While I have illustrated what I believe to be a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that various slight changes might be made in the general form and arrangement of parts without departing from my invention, and hence I do not limit myself to the specific details set forth but consider myself at liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination of a steam radiator, a humidifier located below the radiator, a steam pipe extending through the humidifier and communicating with the steam inlet end of the radiator, a water outlet pipe communicating with the lower portion of the radiator, a filter pipe communicating with the water outlet pipe, filtering material in said filter pipe, means communicating with the filter pipe controlling the supply of water to the humidifier, and a water drain pipe connecting the steam inlet pipe with the radiator at a point above the first mentioned water outlet.

2. The combination with a steam radiator having a steam supply pipe, of a humidifier located under the radiator and comprising a plurality of horizontal parallel tubes open at their upper portions, connected steam pipes extending through the tubes and joined to the steam supply pipe, a water tank in open communication with the lower portion of the radiator and to which water condensed'in the radiator is fed by gravity, and a float valve in the tank controlling the level of water in the tank and tubes.

3. The combination with a steam radiator having a steam supply pipe, of a humidifier located under the radiator and comprising a plurality of horizontal parallel tubes open at their upper portions, connected steam pipes extending through the tubes and joined to the steam supply pipe, a water tank in open communication with the lower portions of the radiator and to which water condensed in the radiator is fed by gravity, a float valve in the tank controlling tubes directing moisture from the tubes against 1 the bottom of the radiator.

STOWELL W. MEARS. 

